The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1887-04-28
evaporation. and he water ID retained from sea-

svapocatioo, and he water ID retained from sea
son 10 ssasoo
ThMs b peculiar difference between the
hydrndyuamic character Of q river and that Of
lake In the tormef the water b ever in . state
at motion. howing from Its sourcs TO the eco,
and from the sea, By the force Of evaporation,
back 70 II: source again. thus ever repeating the
proees strictly speaking, each stream receives
and carries nxed volume or amount Of water,
% which man can neither add nor take drop.
. email stream receiving and carrying little and
Q larger one more, all depending GU the rain
area, the rainfall, the slant OF ground and nature
Of coil and vegetation The course of the Pc di
Pimaro, Samoggia, Reno and other rivers and
torrents in the plains Of Bolognese aud Ro.
magma have furnished much Information ON this
subject. Widening aud doubling river beds
about city has never practically saved its
streets and cellars from inundation by reducing
the heights OF freshets- The old canal made by
order Of the Emperor Nerva TO draw OF the su-
perhuous waters OF the Tiber at the time of its
greatest freshets did not contribute in the small
eat degree 10 prevent the inundation, as Pliny
has assured Us 10 his letters Indeed, there 10 an
old Italian hydrodynamic paradox, that You do
not diminish the height of waters in great foods
by lessening the quantity of the water. II the
mouth Qf stream burst into deitas, no more
water VIII discharge out Of the many mouths
than formerly passed out Of the single one, be-
cause the former velocity of exit is diminished
as ever to all practical appearances. On the
other hand, lake proper may be drained, for
its wsters are dead or only pass of by evapOra-
ton from its surface and while: this 10 the case,
ii VIII always be found that the rain area aud
surfacs Of the lake bear ratio that would make
wateB from the lakes surface alone
equal, else the lake would 60 dry
or increase in size. Hence il an outlet ditch be
dug TIP equilibrium could be broken and the
water epcape faster than received, hence, by the
axiom, the lake would become finally dry.
you ple&se and the water will come and go. So
likewise It viii de with the lake, but the lake
you have converted into SORT of river proper
tionately smaller, leaving the basin OF the lake
as part of its water shed.
Now the Kissimmee river isa combination of
lakes and rivers For convenience we will say
it contains TWO kind OF waters, dead lake and
live river water. By the axiom, the latter has
been tor ages falling from the skies and disar-
the country 10 not permanently flooded there is
by the same axiom some ways fer II 10 escape.
The Kissmmee river, flowing stream, has also
for ages been discharging its waters into Okee-
chobee and for just - long period has been
discharged out OF th6e, or else that region
would be in state OF everlasting inundation,
and this Disston ditch, rs some philosophers seem
to think, can never BY any possible means stop
these waters-up, and BY the premises can never
draw any of it off nokmore than the Emperor
Nerva's canal reduced the waters OF the Tlber,
or delta can accelerate the discharge ola river.
But the dead waters of the lake will pass of,
which they never did before, by the general &c
celebrating effect Prodnced by the exit Of waters
by the influence of the canal. The waters in
other words are passing of AND have been for
several years more rapidly than received and
must by the axiom produce reclamation.
would like to know the exact ratio between
the river and lake waters in this region, If did
it would be possible to figure the final reduction
of the lakes and the possible size of the river to
be left with great precision, but alas our legisa
lures have for over3O years been most violently
opposed to appropriating dime for any engi-
neering purposes whatever, therefore all such
matters must languish until an age Arrives when
science is more appreciated. 1t Is easily COM
puted from the data furnished in the report OF
the Commission, that the outlet canal has,
since Dec. Goth, 1882, its date Of opening,
discharged column OF dead lake, water one
mile wide, 172 miles long and. ak 3eet .deap.
Hence the company has reduced the region Of
this immense volume of water, never again TO re-
turn as long IS Che canals are kept running.
In an article which read before the Southern
Society of CivH Engineers on the hydraulics Of
the Okeechobe1 region recently after first having
submitted its examination to eur best hydrar lie
engineers andreceiving their endorsement, I
showed from the bess obiainabfe data, that If
Okeecbobee, whose srea is generally taken at
1000 square miles, is lowered $40 Of a foot, 1t
will ho any snosmals freshet OF live SateE tha&
the reglbh b INFECTED 10. >
a es2E E ~ aEla|s Rss ss eh4;,a; = = -.
dscse ,.s+-a.-. So. 8. -.
Nsy<&yt4seoi amount computed from
fAeG kehsn' DID, YIN exceed This, AID ~